Joseph S. Naylor

JOSEPH S. NAYLOR is a member in the Wilmington, Delaware office. Mr. Naylor focuses his practice on advising and representing clients in product-liability litigation, corporate / complex commercial litigation, insurance defense and appellate matters. Mr. Naylor has 25 years of experience litigating before all of Delaware’s state and federal courts, helping the firm’s clients achieve a positive resolution of a wide variety of disputes.

Product-Liability Defense

Delaware is a national filing hub for asbestos litigation, and in particular mesothelioma cases. Swartz Campbell’s Wilmington office presently represents over 100 clients / defendants in asbestos-related lawsuits – more than any other Delaware firm – and has been trial counsel in most asbestos cases that have gone to trial since the mid-2000s.

Mr. Naylor serves as lead Delaware counsel for more than a dozen asbestos clients, including several publicly traded, self-insured Fortune 500 companies who are often the primary targets of Plaintiffs’ lawsuits. Mr. Naylor has argued and won dozens of motions for summary judgment on behalf of his clients, including several seminal rulings that are regularly cited by the Court and practitioners. Sample reported opinions include: Gibbs v. Union Carbide, 2020 WL 5798072 (Del. Super. Ct. Sept. 28, 2020); Robinson v. Union Carbide, 2019 WL 3822531 (Del. Super. Ct. Aug. 15, 2019); Rowland v. Union Carbide, 2019 WL 1787451 (Del. Super. Ct. April 24, 2019); Sturgill v. Union Carbide, 2017 WL 6343519 (Del. Super. Ct. Dec. 11, 2017); Aveni v. Union Carbide, 2017 WL 5594055 (Del. Super. Ct. Nov. 8, 2017); Leathers v. Union Carbide, 2017 WL 5619281 (Del. Super. Ct. Nov. 8, 2017); Warner v. Covestro, 2017 WL 3727022 (Del. Super. Ct. Oct. 26, 2017); Kivell v. Union Carbide, 2017 WL 3727022 (Del. Super. Ct. Aug. 30, 2017); and Gordon v. Dana Companies, LLC, 2011 WL 6058302 (Del. Super. Ct. Nov. 16, 2011).

Mr. Naylor also obtained dismissal for a non-Delaware corporation based on lack of personal jurisdiction in Anderson v. Dana Companies, LLC, 2015 WL 556434 (Jan. 30, 2015), in what has become the seminal post-Daimler opinion in Delaware discussing general-jurisdiction principles in an asbestos case.

Mr. Naylor has successfully argued multiple asbestos-related appeals to the Supreme Court of Delaware, including Kivell v. Union Carbide Corp., 240 A.3d 1139 (Del. 2000) and Reed v. Asbestos Corporation Ltd., 155 A.3d 1284 (Del. 2017). Mr. Naylor was lead Delaware counsel as part of a multi-firm appellate defense team that obtained reversal of a $2.8 million asbestos verdict. See R.T. Vanderbilt Co. Inc. v. Galliher, 98 A.3d 122 (Del. 2014). Mr. Naylor is also one of only several attorneys in Delaware history to have argued an asbestos-related appeal to a full en banc panel of the Supreme Court of Delaware. See Plummer v. R.T. Vanderbilt Co., Inc., 49 A.3d 1163 (Del. 2012). Videos of Mr. Naylor’s arguments in these cases can be found at https://courts.delaware.gov/supreme/oralarguments.

Mr. Naylor also represents Fortune 500 companies in product-liability and pharmaceutical litigation generally. Mr. Naylor is currently working as part of a multi-state team defending a major chemical company against claims of cancer caused by polyfluoroalkyl substances (or “PFAS”) — often referred to colloquially as “forever chemicals.” Mr. Naylor also represents an international pharmaceutical company in more than 70,000 cases alleging that Zantac/Ranitidine caused their cancer.

Corporate and Complex Commercial Litigation

Prior to joining Swartz Campbell, Mr. Naylor worked for a national law firm specializing in corporate and commercial litigation. Mr. Naylor has acted as lead counsel in numerous cases involving fights for corporate control, contract disputes, and expedited requests for injunctive relief, particularly in business cases of national and international import. Mr. Naylor has been mentioned by name and his cases have been cited and referenced in national publications such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Insurance Defense

Mr. Naylor has wide-ranging and diverse experience defending a variety of matters for insured parties in cases involving serious personal injuries, property damage, construction defects and corporate / securities litigation. Representative insurance-defense matters include:

• Successfully defended the general contractor of a new hotel after the windows and stucco walls began leaking several months after completion. Mr. Naylor was able to obtain summary judgment in his client’s favor barring the plaintiff’s claim for approximately $7 million in economic losses. See Smyrna Hospitality, LLC v. Petrucon Construction, Inc., 2013 WL 6039287 (Del. Super. 2013).
• Successfully defended a condominium association in connection with a multi-unit pipe burst at a high-end, beach-front condominium complex in Bethany Beach, Delaware. Mr. Naylor was able to obtain summary judgment in his client’s favor after the close of discovery. See Freibott v. Miller, 2012 WL 6850450 (Del. Super. 2012).
• Successfully defended the manufacturer of a 20-ton industrial shearing machine where a young employee’s arm was severed and amputated. Despite numerous adverse facts on liability issues and a large damages claim, Mr. Naylor was able to obtain summary judgment in his client’s favor after the close of discovery based on Delaware’s builder’s statute (statute of repose). See Thompson v. Murata Wiedemann, Inc., 2011 WL 5624374 (Del. Super. 2011).
• Successfully defended the former Chief Financial Officer of a public company in a securities class action filed by a nationally renowned law firm. Mr. Naylor was able to obtain dismissal of the claims prior to discovery. See In re AstroPower Securities Litig., 2006 WL 288120 (D. Del. 2006).
• Successfully defended property owners in premises-liability cases.
• Successfully defended contractors and vendors in fire / casualty litigation.
• Successfully defended private and municipal employers in employment litigation.
• Successfully represented insurance carriers in coverage disputes with their insureds and other carriers.

Appellate Practice

Mr. Naylor is a former clerk to the Honorable Joseph T. Walsh of the Supreme Court of Delaware and has an active appellate practice. Representative appellate matters include:

• Regularly representing asbestos defendants in appeals with the Supreme Court of Delaware. Mr. Naylor recently obtained reversal of a $2.8 million asbestos verdict. See R.T. Vanderbilt Co. Inc. v. Galliher, 98 A.3d 122 (Del. 2014). Mr. Naylor is also one of only several attorneys in Delaware history to have ever argued an asbestos-related appeal to a full en banc panel of the Supreme Court of Delaware. See Plummer v. R.T. Vanderbilt Co., Inc., 49 A.3d 1163 (Del. 2012).
• Represented an insurance carrier in a coverage dispute with insured racetrack after horseracing injury.
• Represented the developer of hotel in a zoning dispute with New Castle County.
• Represented a furniture-and-design company in a commercial lease dispute.
• Represented a condominium association council in a contract / fiduciary duty dispute.

Areas of Practice

• Asbestos
• Corporate Litigation
• Complex Commercial Litigation
• Insurance Law
• Defense Litigation
• Appellate Litigation

Bar Admissions

• 1999 Delaware

Education

• 1999 Widener University School of Law Wilmington, DE J.D. Magna Cum Laude
• 1996 University of Delaware Newark, DE B.A. Magna Cum Laude History Education

CONTACT Joseph S. Naylor / (302) 656-5935 (phone) / (302) 656-1434 (fax)